1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer security, and more particularly but not exclusively to methods and apparatus for securing application package files for mobile computing devices.
2. Description of the Background Art
Mobile operating systems are designed to be suitable for computers that are constrained in terms of memory and processor speed. The ANDROID operating system is a popular mobile operating system employed in mobile computing devices, including mobile phones and tablets. Application programs for the ANDROID operating system come in a file referred to as the ANDROID application package (APK) file. A problem with the APK file is that it is relatively easy to decompile to identify system application programming interface (API) call sequences. This makes the APK file vulnerable to reverse engineering for malicious, copying, and other purposes.
Code obfuscation has been employed to make applications in APK files difficult to reverse engineer. For example, the PROGUARD software tool may be employed to obfuscate JAVA code used in APK files. However, while code obfuscation makes the APK file harder to read, the APK file may still be readily decompiled to show the system calls employed by the application.